From Politics to Events: Time Brings Changes in Paper's Focus

Every weekday The Crimson pulls together a package of campus news, arts and sports for its readers' enjoyment and edification. But while prolific in its coverage, the paper rarely covers campus opinions of its quality.

Students, faculty and administrators agree that The Crimson has been a powerful influence on campus in the past 25 years.

"As the campus daily paper they played a very important role in how the parts of the campus interacted," says Matthew Anestis '95, former chair of the student advisory committee (SAC) at the Institute of Politics (IOP).

Over the past 25 years, as The Crimson staff focus has shifted from political expression to objective coverage of campus news, reader criticism has shifted as well. While readers in the seventies seemed to value The Crimson most as a student political voice, they now say its role should be as a facilitator of dialogue on campus issues and events.

Crimson Politics

Since its inception, The Crimson has always played a prominent part in campus political life, both through its editorial arm and occasionally, some complain, in its reporting.

During the sixties and early seventies, The Crimson was swept up in the same revolutionary fervor that led to widespread protests and to the 1969 student takeover of University Hall. Crimson editorials sympathized with radical students and editors themselves were often just as involved in campus activism.

As a result, Crimson reporting joined its editorial page in reflecting a distinct liberal bias, as noted by many students and Faculty.

In his 1990 book The University: An Owner's Manual, Henry S. Rosovsky, dean of the Faculty from 1973 to 1984, calls Crimson reporting of the sixties and seventies more of an "exercise in advocacy journalism favoring the forces of revolution" than impartial journalism.

Later, however, he says that as political activism on campus died down, The Crimson returned to its style of objective reporting, "no better or worse than the national press."

The Crimson's reporting on campus affairs makes the newspaper a valuable link between students and administrators.

"I read The Crimson and I suspect that many administrators who have a connection with the College do so," says John B. Fox '59, secretary of the Faculty.

Students interviewed agreed that The Crimson's reporting over the past decade has been objective for the most part while its editorial leanings remained liberal.

"We ran lots of editorials taking a left-wing view of world affairs," says Michael W. Miller '84, managing editor of the paper in 1983. "I heard that simmered down after I left and things moved away from the left."

While the editorials and staff of The Crimson remained progressive-minded during the eighties, focus began to shift away from coverage of world affairs to coverage of campus issues.

Until the early nineties, the liberal slant of The Crimson seemed to alienate the moderate and conservative students.

According to Stephen E. Frank '95, a former editorial chair, the more conservative editors often did not attend editorial meetings, because they thought that they would be voted down.

"A lot of students felt they were excluded from The Crimson, because they had more moderate or right-wing views," he says.

Frank attributes the creation of ultra-right-wing publications such as Peninsula in the early '90s in part to a perceived lack of conservative representation on The Crimson staff.

During his years at The Crimson, many of the paper's traditionally liberal stances, such as support of rent control in Cambridge, were reversed, Frank says. But not all Crimson editors were pleased by this shift in perspective.

"This place has moved far, far to the right in just the past 2.5 years I've been here," says Ira E. Stoll '94, the 120th Crimson president, in the spring 1993 open book. "I say this out of concern for this paper and how it is perceived in the community."

The Crimson as a Campus Leader

Students agree that as Harvard's only daily newspaper, The Crimson plays an important part in the network of large student organizations that shape the campus, whether they are focused on politics, public service or the arts.

"People who were part of extracurriculars definitely read it each morning which I'm sure had an effect on the way events unfolded," Anestis says.

And while Helen E. Shaw '98, outgoing president of the Harvard Dramatic Club, didn't feel that Crimson arts reviewers were always on target, she agreed that "it has always been a great source of publicity."

"It's impressive that The Crimson tries to cover as much of the Harvard theater scene as possible," Shaw says.

"The Crimson executives tended to be people who were very active and outgoing and quite frankly friends with a lot of student leaders," Anestis says. This leads to a comfortable dialogue between The Crimson and student organizations, he adds.

Most student leaders interviewed said that Crimson reporters are very professional, although compers can be "a little rough around the edges," according to Roy E. Bahat '98, president of the Phillips Brooks House Association (PBHA) in 1997.

Geoffrey C. Rapp '98, IOP SAC chair in 1997, says he is friends with several Crimson executives. But he says those he dealt with professionally were "rude, insensitive and generally mean."

"While many execs are great people, it seems the only ones I have ever had to deal with have been the outliers, who have definite problems," Rapp says.

Ethan M. Tucker '97, former Hillel chair, believes some reporters and executives may have been biased or misinformed about stories.

"Even worse were the times when Jewish executives of The Crimson were clearly providing behind the scenes, somewhat faulty and inaccurate information, about an organization with which they had contact, but in which they were not really involved," Tucker says.

Jennifer A. Goldberg '94, PBHA president and now a Winthrop House resident tutor, says more dedicated coverage of the organization's summer programs would be appropriate.

"It is more difficult to cover longer-term sustained programs, although long-term programs are the heart and soul of PHBA," Goldberg says.

Student leaders from years past say their interactions with Crimson reporters helped prepare them for the real world.

"When [The Crimson] interviews students, it gives those students a chance to learn how to speak to the press," said Mukhlis S. Balbale '92, who was the vice-chair of the IOP SAC in 1992.

Rosovsky describes meeting with Crimson reporters as a "fencing match."

"I look at these young men and women dressed in T-shirts, sweaters, and jeans, and wonder which one I will first encounter in a three-piece suit or its female equivalent," he writes. "Is one of them a future Franklin [D.] Roosevelt ['04], Cap Weinberger ['38], or Anthony Lewis ['48]?"

Former Crimson reporters also remember a somewhat adversarial relationship with the Faculty and the Administration.

"There was a good healthy tension," says Miller, who now works at the Wall Street Journal. "We had the impression that Dean Rosovsky was spitting out coffee and cursing the jackals at The Crimson."

Reflecting Campus Diversity

In recent years, many student leaders have complained that diversity at The Crimson has not kept pace with that of the campus in general.

As a result, many students active in minority student organizations say that The Crimson at times did not fully cover important issues and events.

"Although The Crimson does a pretty good job of keeping its internal politics under wraps when reporting stories, it is true that some stories get more emphasis over others because they strike the personal interests of the board members," says Jay F. Chen '00, co-president of the Asian American Association (AAA) and a Crimson executive.

Chen tied the lack of coverage of minority groups to the dearth of minorities on The Crimson staff.

Jason Williamson '98, president of the Black Students Association (BSA), echoed Chen's sentiments that The Crimson should improve its staff diversity.

"I'd like for there to be an African-American president of The Crimson," Williamson says. "I'd like there to be more African-American people who actually have a voice in the decisions the papers makes."

According to several former editorial chairs, the BSA has often been among the most frequent critics of Crimson reporting.

"Coverage either was non-existent or was unfriendly or written with uniformed opinions," says Jason B. Phillips '99, publicity chair of the BSA. He adds that diversity on The Crimson is important because of its ability to influence campus attitudes.

"[Because it is] the only newspaper on campus, we really can't reach the campus the way we want to without Crimson coverage," says Phillips, who is a Crimson editor. "Coverage of an issue that is important to us shows that it is not just something the BSA is concerned with."

Phillips and other heads of minority student organizations, say Crimson coverage has not always been sensitive to issues of diversity.

"My main criticism with The Crimson has been [its] past insensitivity towards some events and issues," says Sergio J. Campos '00, president of Raza, a Mexican-American and Latino student organization.

However, Campos and Phillips say they believe The Crimson has become more sensitive and attentive towards coverage of minority groups over the past year.

Many student leaders say they wish they had more input into how The Crimson could cover their organizations' activities.

Williamson encouraged The Crimson to aim for accuracy and diversity of opinions in stories.

"It's important for the paper to stay on top of the real issues and to be accurate," says Williamson, "and to get as many sides of the story to make sure things aren't lopsided, as they have been in the past."

Others expressed surprise at the intensity of The Crimson's coverage.

"I am surprised at how much coverage [the Bisexual, Gay, Lesbian, Transgender and Supporters Association (BGLTSA)] gets," says David A. Campbell '00, co-chair of the BGLTSA.

However, Campbell says he would like to see more in-depth coverage of BGLTSA issues and not just events they sponsor.

Most student leaders interviewed welcomed the opportunity to critique the paper that determines their campus image.

"I therefore issue my criticism as a challenge," Campos says, "to continue to report with understanding and depth so that the issues that affect us receive the respect that they deserve."